The Hockey News’s Matt Larkin attempts to discern the “Stanley Cup windows” for the Atlantic Division’s teams this upcoming season, and he suggests that the Red Wings have a “foggy window.” It sounds like Larkin’s more frustrated with the Red Wings’ lack of progress than Red Wings fans themselves:
Detroit Red Wings
Sigh. Can I get you anything, Red Wings fans? Cup of tea? Should we sit down and let you vent? I feel for you. It’s now nine years since Detroit competed in a playoff game. Because GM Steve Yzerman flinched too early in the rebuild and added a slew of Mid veterans a few years back, this team has spun its wheels on the playoff bubble for several seasons now. On one hand: we’re watching Lucas Raymond become a star, Moritz Seider is a horse on defense, we’re seeing lots of promise from forward Marco Kasper and defenseman Simon Edvinsson, and Detroit’s prospect pool remains packed. On the other hand: this team struggles to defend, it’s supposed to be contending now during Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat’s primes, and…Yzerman’s only offseason addition on defense is Jacob Bernard-Docker. What is this team doing? A win-now operation that did very little to win now this off-season inspires little confidence in the short term.
Continued; the Red Wings have work to do in the trade department to help bolster their top-six forward corps and their top-four on defense. Whether those trades happen this summer is a pressing question.
